Alexandria Canal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Alexandria Canal was a canal in the United States that connected Alexandria, Virginia, to Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
In 1830, merchants from Alexandria proposed linking their city to Georgetown to capitalize on the new Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Congress granted a charter to the Alexandria Canal Company in 1830, and construction began soon on the Aqueduct Bridge that would carry canal boats across the Potomac River and downriver on the Virginia side without unloading in Georgetown. Construction of the bridge and Alexandria Canal began in 1833; both were completed a decade later. The canal was abandoned in 1886.
The canal was seven miles long and dropped 38 feet with four locks. The canal ran through modern-day Arlington County and Alexandria.
After the Key Bridge was completed in 1923, the old superstructure of the Aqueduct Bridge was removed. At the north end of Old Town Alexandria, the Trans-Potomac Center has built a replica of one of the four locks at the other end of the Alexandria Canal. Aside from the pier and abutment of the Aqueduct Bridge, all the other features of the canal have been buried or removed.
[edit] References
- Hahn, Thomas Swiftwater, Kemp, Emory L. (1992). The Alexandria Canal: Its History & Preservation. West Virginia University Press.
- Barr, Keith L. (1989). The Alexandria Canal: Tidewater Terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal System. Alexandria Archaeology Publications.
